Where do you live?

Where is your house/apartment?City? Country? Suburb? Near the ocean?

Where do you sleep?

How many brothers and sisters do you have?

What is your kitchen like?

How is your home like Herisel's? How is it different?

A Gift for Abuelo

Life, Death and Buried Treasure in Oaxaca, Mexico

A Gift for Abuelo

Life, Death and Buried Treasure in Oaxaca, Mexico

Watch the trailer!

Stream the video.

A Gift for Abuelo is a digital prototype of the Just Like Me, But Different concept. Filmed in Mexico, it is the poignant and beautiful story of Hericel, a young boy, who transforms from potential predator to fierce protector of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles that nest on the beach near his home. The film is accompanied by six short videos, (with links below) that offer a window onto Hericel's daily life on the Pacific Coast of Oaxaca. Young viewers are encouraged to consider and share comparisons between Hericel's life and their own.

For the Kids

A Gift for Abuelo celebrates differences, draws attention to the things all children have in common, teaches children understanding, respect and tolerance and promotes environmental accountability. This story is special, not only because it teaches the value of coexistence and protecting the natural world, but it also immerses viewers in the traditions and lifestyle of another culture — creating a unique form of rich, engaging education that can be shared with children and adults around the world.

For the Turtles

Today, six of the seven species of sea turtles are threatened or endangered. They face enough natural obstacles on their journey from egg to ocean without the many man-made dangers we add – habitat loss to coastal development, pollution, and hunting, especially for eggs.

Many do not understand the implication of their actions on these and other species. This is the case with eleven-year-old Hericel, whose journey begins as he thinks about honoring the memory of his grandfather on Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) by taking an egg and placing it on the family altar. After observing a nesting mother and learning more about their lifecycle and history, Hericel begins to develop a deep appreciation for these amazing creatures and his actions take an unexpected turn…

Hericel's story offers children a powerful message of compassion, responsibility and hope. A companion children's book is in development. To stream the video or purchase a DVD, click here.

Do you walk? Take a bus?

What class do you like best?

Food

Food

What's your favorite food?

Herisel takes corn for the neighbor to grind it. Then his mom makes tortillas!

Is there something like tortillas that you eat at almost every meal? Bread? Rice?

Why do you think Herisel eats fish three times a day?

If you could eat anything three times a day, what would it be?

How is the food you eat like Herisel's? How is it different?

Afternoon

Homework and Play

Afternoon

Homework and Play

LIFE On the BEACH.

Where do you do your homework? Outside or inside?

Do you play sports? How about soccer?

Do you like video games?

How is the one Herisel plays like the games you know? How is it different?

Sea Turtles

Sea Turtles

We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth. 

— ~ Henry Beston

What animals live near your home?

Do you see or interact with them?

What dangers do they face?

What can you do to help?

The Olive Ridley turtle is a threatened species of sea turtle that lives around the world in tropical and warm temperate ocean waters. Along the Pacific Coast of Mexico, these turtles are considered endangered, largely because of human encroachment.